Caloocan City

The City of Caloocan also known as the City of Kalookan (officially Makasaysayang Lungsod ng Caloocan or in English The Historic City of Caloocan) is one of the cities and municipalities that comprises the National Capital Region of Metro Manila in the Philippines. It is a major residential area inside Metro Manila. Located just north of the capital City of Manila, Caloocan is the country's third most populous city with a population of 1,378,856 as of the 2007 census.

Geography

Caloocan City is divided into two separate areas. Southern Caloocan
City lies directly north of the City of Manila and is bounded by Malabon City and Valenzuela City to the north and west, Navotas to the west, and Quezon City
to the east. Northern Caloocan City is the northernmost territory of
Metro Manila; it lies east of Valenzuela City, north of Quezon City, and
south of San Jose del Monte City in the province of Bulacan.

Barangays
Main article: Barangays of Caloocan CityCaloocan City is divided into 188 barangays. The city uses a hybrid
system for its barangays - all barangays have their corresponding
numbers but only a few - mostly in the northern part - have
corresponding names.

Among all cities in the Philippines, only Manila, Pasay City and
Caloocan City implement the so called "Zone Systems". A Zone is a group
of barangays in a district. Although a zone is considered a subdivision
in the local government units, the people do not elect a leader for the
zone in a popular election similar to the normal barangay or local
elections. The zoning system is merely for strategical purposes.
Caloocan City has 16 Zones. The biggest zone in Caloocan is Zone 15
located in District 1 (North Caloocan) directly west of the second
biggest zone in Caloocan which is Zone 16.

Barangay Bagong Silang (176) is the largest barangay in the country with a population of 221,874 people.[2]

Population

The city has a population of 1,378,856 people which makes it the third largest city in the Philippines in terms of population.

Most of the people speak English and Filipino
as their primary language. A considerable amount of the population also
speaks other languages and dialects. Like many other places in the
country, Roman Catholicism is the religion with most followers in the city, but there is a significant number of the members of Iglesia ni Cristo and other Christian denominations.

History

The ammunition train and reserves of the 20th Kansas Volunteers, Col. Frederick R. Funston, marching through Caloocan at night after the battle of February 10.

The city is historically significant because it was the center of activities for the Katipunan, the secret militant society that launched the Philippine Revolution during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. It was in a house in Caloocan where secret meetings were held by Andres Bonifacio and his men, and it was within the city's perimeters where the very first armed encounter took place between the Katipunan and the Spaniards.

The word caloocan comes from the Tagalog root word lo-ok; kalook-lookan (or kaloob-looban)
means "innermost area". The City borders many other cities such as
Quezon City, Manila, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela and San Jose Del Monte
Bulacan in the north. During the formation of Rizal Province, Caloocan
was included in its matrix until 1975.

By the 1920s, Caloocan had annexed the neighboring town of
Novaliches, bringing it to a total area of about 15,000 hectares. In
1939, when Quezon City
was created, 1,500 hectares of land from Caloocan was to be given to
the newly-created capital city. But the people, instead of opposing it,
willingly gave land to Quezon City, realizing it will be good for the
Philippines' new capital.

However, in 1949, the Congress of the Philippines enacted Republic
Act No. 333, which redefined the Caloocan-Quezon City boundary. The
barrios of Baesa, Talipapa, San Bartolome, Pasong Tamo, Novaliches,
Banlat, Kabuyao, Pugad Lawin, Bagbag, Pasong Putik, which formerly
belonged to Novaliches and had an area of about 8,100 hectares, were
taken from Caloocan. This caused the division of Caloocan into two
separate parts - the South section being the urbanized part, while the
North section being subrural.

Economy

Caloocan City's 10th Avenue area is well-known for the clusters of
motorcycle dealers and motorcycle spare parts dealers. Among the major
and famous streets are P. Zamora Street and A. Mabini Street.

The city also has a number of shopping malls including Ever Gotesco Grand Central, Victory Central Mall, Puregold, etc. in which most of them are located in Monumento area.

There are rumors of a SM Department Store
to be built in Caloocan City. This rumor began appearing in certain
blogs and forums. As of this date, there has been no official
confirmation about the said mall, which will replace the old Kalookan
Grand Plaza in Monumento area. But Point Design, Inc. has already
published in its site renders for the proposed mall, hinting at the
possibility of construction of SM City Caloocan.[3]

The Manila North Tollways Corporation's headquarters, the concession
holder of the North Luzon Expressway, is housed in Caloocan City.

Transportation

The Light Rail Transit (LRT-1) has a terminal at Monumento. The railway traverses Rizal Avenue Extension of Caloocan City, into the City of Manila and Pasay City. The whole stretch can be traveled in about 30 minutes.

The city has an extensive network of roads. The most prominent of these roads is the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue which begins in Monumento area. Also, the North Luzon Expressway Operations and Maintenance Center and the Balintawak Toll Barrier are also housed in Caloocan City.

Landmarks

The city's most celebrated landmark is the monument of Philippine
revolutionary Andres Bonifacio, which is located at the end of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). The memorial was erected in 1933 with sculptures crafted by national artist Guillermo Tolentino
to mark the very first battle of the Philippine revolution on August 3,
1896. Recent renovations have been made on the environs of the
monument, including the Bonifacio Circle, its former site, and the Caloocan stretch of EDSA, which is 100 meters away from the landmark. The whole area is now known as Monumento (Monument). The city hall is located on A. Mabini Avenue in the southern part of the city, across the street from San Roque Parish Cathedral.
The old city hall, on the other hand, still stands today in its present
location at 9th Avenue. There is also a city hall in the northern part
of the city.